Breakthrough

The night was cold. Huan Wei sat by the fire and warmed himself. The fatigue that had settled over his body when he broke through the bottleneck was fading. It made him feel proud to leave behind the stage he had been stuck in for so long. The rest of the way might be long, but he had taken the first step. The rest would come by itself. When he had to choose a path, he would not limit his soul to the Path of the Earth like ordinary people. He was aiming much higher. His goal was not the mountains but the stars.

He put his hands to the fire and warmed himself a little more. Then he took out the pouch he had hidden in his clothes. He had seen the pills inside on the shelves of alchemy shops many times before. Even Huan Quon's father sold them. The five pills in the pouch were simple. Yet they were what one needed on the path to cultivation. Cleansing the body of impurities, expanding the meridians so that the energy in them can flow more freely, and making the body more sensitive to energy... These were skills that every cultivator had, but over time the body would get dirty again and things like the purification process had to be done again. These pills were not expensive for normal people, but for someone like Huan Wei, who had all his earnings forcibly taken away from him and invested in alcohol, they were hard to come by.

He sat cross-legged by the fire and chose to cleanse himself of impurities first. He took the pill, put it in his mouth and swallowed it without waiting. In a few seconds he was already seeing the effect. His whole body became hotter. His whole skin was full of fine pains, as if ants were biting him. Still he did not stop meditating. Soon he realized that it was not sweat that was running down his face. It was a tar-like black liquid that was being expelled out of his body through his pores. His clothes were coated with this substance. It smelled very bad and was as thick as mud. He closed his eyes to keep it out of his eyes. He waited for a few more minutes without moving. When the tingling sensation finally passed, he waved his arms and swung the black substance left and right. Then he cleaned the remaining part of his eyes with his hand and opened his eyes.

The campfire was extinguished by this tar. It covered the fire and prevented it from burning. Huan Wei could not breathe deeply because of the heavy smell. How could it have gotten inside the young man's body? He stood up and moved a little away from the area. Even his hair was covered with it. Unfortunately, there was no water source nearby. He couldn't go back home to bathe right now. So he bent down and grabbed handfuls of earth from the ground and rubbed it on himself. He was trying to clean the tar with his earthy hands. Then he rubbed his dirty hand on the ground to clean it. He did this for about fifteen minutes. Eventually he got rid of a considerable amount of the dirt, but he was still covered with it.

"I wouldn't be surprised if this shit came from my father. What could I have done to make me so rotten inside?" As Huan Wei questioned himself, he thought of all the evil he had done and planned to do. "My actions were not supposed to rot my insides."

Yet there was a difference. He felt the energy flowing through him much more freely. It was as if the dams of filth that had been in his veins until now had been removed. The path of energy was open and flowing freely, like the wind blowing. He raised his hands and looked at his palms. "This is what I've been talking about, my ascension is just beginning."

He immediately reached into the pouch for another pill, but the pouch was full of tar. It was disgusting to even pick out the pills in the black liquid. Nevertheless, he took one of them in his hand. The smell of the little ball, covered in filth, was noticeable. The smell, which was supposed to be good, mixed with the stench of rot, was not a pleasant result. Nevertheless, there was this fact. Huan Wei could not afford to waste these pills. He didn't think he would get his hands on one for a while. When he cleaned up the mess with his finger, he saw that it was a Meridian Expansion pill. He cursed the situation.

"I don't think swallowing this stuff is a good idea," he said to himself. "But it's not as bad an idea as not swallowing it, unfortunately."

He squatted on the ground and took some more dirt and began to rub it on the pill. So the tar would stick to the dirt and lift off the pill. It was not a perfect cleaning method, but there was nothing else that could be done. He rubbed a few more times on the pill. Although it removed most of the dirt, the black color seemed to have penetrated into the pill. Huan Wei put the pill aside. He put the pouch next to it upside down to let the tar drain out. Then he gathered a few more twigs and leaves, piled them in the center and started a fire. When he picked up the Meridian Expansion pill, he was still uncomfortable about having to swallow it.

"I need it all. I want it all."

He closed his eyes and swallowed the black pill in his mouth. A disgusting taste remained on his tongue. There were even bits of dirt on the pill. His throat was burning. He coughed several times. The coughing got worse and worse, but he had to restrain himself and start meditating. He sat cross-legged by the fire. He waited while the effect of the pill penetrated his body. This time he didn't have to do anything. He felt his open meridians expanding even more.

Humans had fifteen meridians. Each one was like a system that ran through the whole body. They allowed energy to go out into the physical world, enabling people to use martial techniques, but they were not just energy vessels. Energy vessels only work on the flow of energy in the pool, whereas meridians work on the whole flow. Yet people were usually born with most meridians closed. Ordinary people usually have only five meridians open. In geniuses, the number went up to eight. The world was big. People could somehow discover ways to open some of the other meridians, but no one had opened all of them. Huan Wei had six meridians open. It could be said that he was above average. Still, compared to other geniuses, it was nothing remarkable. Given the life he had, it could be said that he had no future, but Huan Wei would not accept that.

His six meridians contracted and expanded a little more under the influence of the pill. These were like muscles. The more they were used, the more they expanded, but the only way to use them was to use one of the countless fighting techniques. At Huan Wei's stage, this was impossible, so he needed the pills. Cultivators in more advanced realms had to train hard just to avoid relying on pills. If one's meridians were not active for a long time, they would weaken, just like losing muscle. The more you strengthened your meridians, the more effort it took to maintain your powers.

When the pill wore off, Huan Wei took a deep breath. Even the fresh air moving into his lungs burned his throat. So he had another coughing fit. Eventually he managed to close his mouth and stop himself. Next came the other pills. He was not finished yet. His body needed to be made more sensitive to energy to make the most of it. Among the pills he cleaned from the dirt, he found the right one and swallowed it. The remaining two pills were just simple healing pills. Maybe he would need them in the future, but for the moment he had no wounds or pain.

He waited for the last pill to take effect. Soon he could feel the energy around him a little more easily. He hadn't expected such a simple pill to suddenly empower him to feel the whole world. Still, it would be useful.

As he meditated, he realized that most of the night had passed. It was almost dawn. He waited by the fire for dawn. The sunlight coming into the forest felt more beautiful than ever. Now he could call himself a cultivator. He had caught up with the youngsters in town. As he continued to get stronger, he would overtake them. At that moment his confidence grew. He was never a loser. Now other people had to accept that too. He put the remaining pills in his pocket. He could clean them up better when he got home. He had to clean himself too. Of course, he had to go home after the man had left so that he could do all this without having to answer to his father.

"There's only the Huan Hong thing left. Once I get that sorted out, everything will be better."